We met in Italy
by glaf2u
Summary: Antonia's family died in a car crash so she's been shipped off to Italy to live with her grandmother. Yet, what happens when a secret or two is suddenly exposed to her? Alec/OC
1. First impressions never last

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer

**AN: **I hope you all enjoy this story!

* * *

I've always wondered what it would be like to have one of those family's you see on television. A stay at home mother who cooks and cleans and is basically the classic stereotypical housewife, a father who would finish work at 5 and would come home with the 'honey, I'm home' line and a couple of siblings who would fight with each other and then eventually make up with a big cheesy hug.

But my family isn't like that. My family is dead. My mother, my father and my sister are all gone.

It was a rainy day. My parents had gone to the airport to pick my sister up from her big round the world trip. I had stayed at home to finish my English Assignment. At around 11 at night, I got a call from a police officer saying my parents and my sister had died in a car crash. I will never forget that moment. It felt as if my whole self had been scooped out and all that was left was my hard, stony exterior. Then the custody battle happened. It was either my Aunt Gillian who lives in Maine or my grandmother who lives in this tiny town called Volterra or something like that. In the end I ended up shipping off to Italy to live with my grandmother. If I had to choose, I probably would've chosen my grandmother. Even though she lives in Italy and I live in America, I still visited her every Summer because my mother thought it was good for me to 'learn Italian the right way'. So every Summer, I'd fly over to Volterra and then start school at the local high school. My classmates at my Italian school had nicknamed me Summer because whenever Summer came, I came. Ironic because I was born in Winter. I've been doing it since I was 6 years old and I was now 15. Each time I came over, my grandmother still welcomed me in with warm, open arms.

"The earlier your start, the better Italian you'll learn!" was the explanation my mother came up with.

"Your mother's right Antonia!" my father would then say.

"Don't worry, it stops when you turn 18. Or at least I threw a tantrum big enough to stop it." My sister would then reassure me with and then flash me a cheeky smile.

I miss these moments with my family. Even the most simplest things like how my mother would start scolding at me in English and then finish it in Italian. Or how my father would never wear a tie to dinner because he felt as if it was too formal. Or how my sister would occasionally come into my room and we would talk for hours. I miss my family. Simple as that.

But now, I believe I should move on with my life and put the past behind me. A fresh new start in Italy. How very dramatic-Hollywood-movie-star of me

* * *

"Antonia, look at you!" My grandmother said to me in her thick Italian accent, "My how much you've grown!"

I smiled. All grandparents say stuff like that.

"Grandma, it's only been a year."

"To you it may seem like a year, but to me, it seems like a decade." My grandmother grinned at me showing off her still white, still healthy set of teeth. "Come Antonia, let us go home. Your friends have been asking me when Summer is coming." My grandma then gave me a cheeky smile. Her wrinkled around her eyes began to crease up showing a life of laughter and happiness.

We took a cab back home to Volterra. My grandmother chatted happily to me through out the journey to her home town, which is technically my home town now. She skilfully managed to avoid the subject of my parents and my sister for the whole trip. Slowly, the white roof tops of familiar houses started to appear against the road. The hard stone road soon turned into a tiled, paved and narrow road that led into the remote town. Then the giant castle which was almost like the iconic symbol of Volterra began to rise over the horizon. Before long, the taxi had stopped underneath the giant brick clock tower. When I was little I had always wanted to go into the clock tower and see what it looked like. To see if it was as beautiful on the inside as it was on the outside. Suddenly my eyes landed on a women. She was standing in the shadows near the walls of the ancient castle. She was so beautiful. Her brown hair cascaded down in perfect ringlets, her face was a flawless piece of artwork and her figure looked like a model's.

"Tour's, would anyone like to have a tour of the famous Volterra castle?" she asked. I smiled slightly. Obviously, the head of this tourism company had brains. Hire the most beautiful girl to lure in naive tourists. A perfect marketing tool. In a way, she was kind of like one of those annoying tunes you see on ads which get stuck in your head and don't ever come out.

"Antonia, let us go home." my grandmother nudged me in the back, breaking me out of my trance while I stared admiringly at the woman's beauty.

"Grandma, can we go on a tour of Volterra castle? The lady over there was offering them." I asked. I had always wanted to see what the great castle hides but part of me just wanted to know who this woman was.

Suddenly, my grandmother's face turned into an emotionless mask. Her eyes narrowed slightly and her upper lip began quivering. Never in my life had I ever seen my cheerful, exuberant grandmother turn to upset.

"Antonia," she began in a cold, austere tone, "never **ever** let me catch you asking about the tours again."

"Why?" Immediately, I regretted asking that question. It was so human of me to ask. Instincts kicking in before the brain does.

"I have lived here for all my life and I know that the tours are a bad decision. That beautiful woman over there, her name is Heidi. She has been the tour guide since I was a little girl and she has not aged a single day. All those tourists, they go in but I never see them come out again. No one else in this town has noticed these little... flaws but I have. Something is wrong with that castle and don't you to ever go there."

"Grandma, you're just being silly," I responded. All these accusations sounded false yet, my grandmother has never lied to me before. Perhaps she was right. Maybe there was something sinister with Volterra castle.

"Enough of this Antonia, we must get going." My grandma's old cheerful self returned again as she tried hauling my heavy suitcase out of the boot of the taxi.

I gave another swift glance towards the tour guide. Her eyes however, were looking directly at me as if she had heard every word of the conversation my grandmother and I had just had. She smiled at me before continuing to ask people if they wanted tours. I shook my head trying to get the thoughts out of my head.

_It's ok Antonia, she's just a tour guide, nothing else. _

_

* * *

_

Well, what do you guys think? Love it, hate it? Well, review please! _  
_


	2. Thats why we go back for seconds

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer

**AN: **Thankyou so much to everyone that reviewed and all the other people that put this story on alert and added it to their favourites and all the other stuff! You guys make me smile!

* * *

Slowly the last whispers of the screams from the victims inside Volterra castle died down. The bodies lay in a pile in the back corner of the giant room. However, not a single drop of blood had been spilt or spattered across the clothes of the killers.

"Heidi, you never cease to amaze me. Another fabulous meal." complimented Aro. His eyes blood red, perfectly matching the liquid which had now disappeared from the bodies in the corner.

"Thankyou Master." Heidi replied, bowing down respectfully to Aro. "But this time Master, something strange occurred."

"Well, hold out your hand" Aro slowly lowered his palm showing his milky white skin.

"No Master, I believe this is something that must be shared with everyone."

Aro's palm retracted slowly, his finger's clenching into a fist. His eyebrows raised as a signal to begin talking.

"While I was out collecting the... meals, I overheard a conversation between a young girl and her grandmother. They know about us." Heidi let herself hiss whilst annunciating the 's'. "Her grandmother knows about our existence, but the girl... she isn't certain of it, yet."

"Well, what are we to do." mulled Aro

"What are we to do? We kill her! It's obvious!" roared Caius.

"Hush brother, not everything is about killing!" Silenced Aro.

"But that is the law! We have to keep our existence a secret from the humans." argued Caius.

Suddenly, Aro's face turned into a mask of happiness. An idea had come to him

"Heidi, bring the girl to us. She may be useful." Slowly, a grin, spanding from ear to ear spread across on Aro's face.

"What about the grandmother Master?" questioned Heidi.

"The grandmother is old and a human. She will be gone soon. It's the girl I worry about."

"This is stupid, we don't need **another **new-born running around, creating havoc!" yelled Caius. His face was flushed in anger and his eyes had darkened to an almost black shade of red.

"Marcus what do you think?" asked Aro.

Slowly, Marcus raised his eyes from the ground onto his energetic brother's face. The bored vampire took a deep sigh and slowly stood up from his throne.

"If the girl proves to be useful, we keep her. If she proves to be just an addition, we kill her." His voice which would forever remain in a bored monotone rang out throughout the room. Marcus never talks but when he does, everyone listens.

"Excellent! So it is settled!" Aro clapped his hands gleefully as if he was a young boy who had just been told he was receiving a present. "Tell me Heidi, what is this girl like?"

Heidi blinked a few times in confusion. Still adjusting to her Master's sudden emotional change. "Well, she is around Jane and Alec's age and she is from America, I could tell from her distinct accent."

"Oh great, another evil midget running around this place," joked Demetri who then received two matching glares from Jane and Alec. However, he received no piercing pain or a slow sedative creep onto him. Aro had put a ban on his guard using their powers on each other.

"Demetri, Felix." Barked Caius suddenly, "Dispose of our mess."

* * *

**Antonia**

One of the things I hated most about going to school in Italy was the fact that I had to wear a uniform. My old school back in America, had no uniform which students were forced to wear, day in and day out. I gave a tug on the hem of my skirt which was now too small for me because of my freak growth-spurt last year. I probably should ask my grandma to lower the hem of my skirt tonight. I would do it myself but I'm just scared I might accidentally stitch myself to the skirt because of a very beautiful 'fail' mark on the home ec section of my report card. I mean it wasn't my fault that my bag looked more like a ball of felt with string wrapped around it than a, I quote 'a stylish and chic handbag' which was what my teacher had hoped for.

However, one of the good things about going to school in Italy was when we did English lessons. As my other classmates were furiously flipping their pages of their dictionaries, I had already finished the sheet my teacher had given me. My teacher had banned me from helping my other classmates in these lessons as she had wanted me to 'give the other people a fair chance'. I mean I had no problem with that. It always beats having to answer a lot of questions from a lot of people. I had been banned from helping since my first year at the primary school when everyone was learning how to count to 10 and I had offered my skills in teaching and then taught every how to count to 20 at lunch time.

Volterra Secondary School. Population 200. My new school. For once, I would be staying beyond the end of summer and I now had a permanent locker instead of a tray which lived under my desk that held all of my books and my bags. Strangely enough, some of my friends had begun calling me Antonia instead of Summer because I would now be staying. Everyone knew I was staying but they didn't know the reason. I hadn't even told anyone and my grandma had already spoken to the teachers telling them to not tell anyone as well.

I glanced down at my watch. It was 3:50 and I had promised my grandma that I would be home no later than 4. I sure would be cutting it close. If I could, I would've run, but now I'm scared of how short my skirt is now at and what would happen if I **did** run. I cut across the Grand Square and walked underneath the Clock Tower. It was a short cut and although it only saved around two minutes of time it probably would be the difference between me getting home to a happy household and my grandmother frantically calling the police, telling them that her grand-daughter had gone missing.

"Excuse me," I heard a voice call out. I ignored it, thinking it was directed to someone else and not me, so I kept on walking straight ahead.

"Excuse me," the voice called out again. I then realised that the voice was behind me and it was obviously directed to me and not someone else.

I turned around preparing myself to tell the person that I had to get home but I never expected to see **her**.

It was the beautiful woman with the brown curly hair, the flawless skin and legs that went on for miles. She was like one of those models that appeared on the front cover of Vogue and all the other fashion magazines.

"Hello, my name is Heidi and I was wondering if you wanted a tour of Volterra castle." She told me. Suddenly I noticed her eyes. They were an unnatural shade of violet.

_Contacts_... _Why would she wear contacts? I guess they **are** pretty cool. _

"Um..." I stuttered. I had never talked to someone who looked like a model before. "I-I'm sorry, I've really got to get home because I'm already running late."

Heidi's face fell into an unhappy pout.

"Thats a shame. But, it would only take a few minutes!" she advertised.

"I'm really sorry, but I've got to go." Her sad pout returned and I had an urge just to change my mind and follow her on the tour. "Maybe next time." Slowly, I turned around and began rushing off back home.

"Well, until next time!" she called out. As I turned around, I saw her give me a beautiful smile before she melted into the shadows like a ghost that had suddenly disappeared.

I shook my head trying to get the memory out of my head. It was a habit of him but it worked every time when I wanted to forget things. Many people thought I was insane when my parents and my sister had died because I shook my head many times during the first 2 weeks.

Quickly, I glanced down at my watch.

4:02. It's been two minutes. A lot could happen in two minutes like my grandma who had probably now called all police within a 10mile radius of Volterra telling them about my disappearance.

_When grandma yells at you, demanding to know where you were, just blame it on your friends. They wanted to catch up. Just blame it on you friends. Keep the rest a secret..._

I now really needed to get home before she calls the police in the next town telling them to be on the look for a teenage girl, in a uniform with brown hair.

* * *

Chapter 2, now up!

p.s I don't really know if Italian schools have uniforms or not so if anyone knows can you tell me if I got it right?

Chapter 3... coming soon


	3. Cigars

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Twilight, it all belongs to Stephenie Meyer

**

* * *

**

He was disappointed. He was _very _disappointed.

Heidi was one of his most... persuasive guard member even without her gift. He had trusted her with bringing in the meals for centuries. Before Heidi, they had been savages. Preying on innocent victims in the dead of night. Tracking them down and slaughtering them within the dark, damp alley ways in Volterra and then leaving the bodies for a poor local to stumble across the next morning. As soon as the sun came down, the humans of Volterra scurried away into their houses. They had heard of the ruthless murders by some 'creature' that sucked the body dry of blood. Whispers of vampires blew throughout the city affecting everyone and on St Marcus' day, the whole town flocked to the Grand Square in their red coats and called out into the sky. Asking if their great savior Marcus had forgotten to slay a vampire or two... or a whole guard. It was ironic that his brother Marcus, had a day to celebrate the fact that one day, centuries ago, he had rid the town of vampires only to be turned into one in the end.

Then, Heidi came. He still remembered the day when Felix and Demetri had dragged in a savage newborn all the way from Switzerland. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were covered in dry blood and her eyes were bright red. She had killed a whole town because of her thirst. However, Eleazer saw her potential power and he decided to keep her and train her to be more... sophisticated. Then, chaos suddenly turned into order. There was no more savage killings at night, no more drained bodies in the morning and slowly, the humans of Volterra slowly began to venture outside when the sun set with more confidence. Heidi used her beauty and sometimes even her power to draw in gullible tourists and even locals sometimes to take a 'tour of the castle'. The scheme was foolproof and it is still in use without any complications... until... that grandmother and her young granddaughter started to become suspicious. He had trusted Heidi to take care of them and so it broke his heart to find out, the Volturi's latest problem still hadn't become eradicated.

"Master, I am very sorry." Heidi exclaimed. "I believe my actions today may have increased their worry further."

Heidi's faults were quite large during her latest attempt, but he could never stay mad at someone who had brought order to the Volturi.

"I understand Heidi, you are forgiven." replied Aro. "But I must ask, why did you simply not use your power my dear?"

"I believe that everyone should be able to decide for themselves at first, Master."

"Not when the secret of our existence is at stake!" yelled Caius. Heidi winced at the harsh words directed at her.

Aro sighed. His brother had always been more blunt than what was necessary.

"Brother hush. Heidi, you are just as kind-hearted as you are beautiful." soothed Aro

"Thank you Master."

"But next time... don't hold back." whispered Aro. His eyes darkening.

Normally, if this was just another coven of vampires somewhere in the world, the Volturi would step in and kill the human and also the vampire that was the cause of the uproar. However, when the law enforcer was the one caught up in the scandal, how do you eradicate it without people yelling hypocrite at your every move. This was a problem that needed to sorted out otherwise, many lives could be lost. And as much as it pains him to admit. It would be both human _and _a vampire's life.

But right now, he had bigger problems. Much bigger problems but it included the same plot line as what he was facing with the young Italian girl. A human knowing too much. But, like a story line from a typical soap opera, it had a twist. The vampire had fallen in love with the human. However, the problem with a vampire finding its mate was the fact that if the mate died, so did the vampire. So a few days ago, a suicidal vampire from the Olympic coven had burst through the doors of the castle demanding to be killed because he believed his mate had died. Yet, with a power so great as his, Aro could only say no and sent him away. But, he knew that the vampire would kill himself somehow. He knew what a heart-broken vampire would do. He had seen it with his own eyes, his brother Marcus falling apart at the seems. The Olympic coven vampire was going to find a way that would somehow obligate the Volturi to kill him.

"Heidi, go out and try to attract the girl and some others. I am getting hungry. But for now, we have a bigger problem don't we brothers." Aro said calmly, looking over to his brothers.

Heidi nodded and sped out of the throne room, into the outside world.

"I don't understand why we didn't kill the Olympic coven vampire. It was his wish and we wouldn't be in this mess like we are currently in." scowled Caius.

"Brother, the vampire has a wonderful talent and if we just killed him off, imagine the impact it would have on our old friend Carlisle. It would break his heart that his own son had died." responded Aro.

"Demetri, go find Edward Cullen and bring him back before he does something... rash." ordered Aro, "Oh and take dear Janie with you."

Demetri paused for a moment. His eyes glazing over whilst he concentrated on finding where Edward was before suddenly taking off with Jane following right behind him.

A thought suddenly crossed Aro's mind causing a smile to spread across his face.

_And so the plot thickens..._

* * *

**Antonia  
**

Once a year, Volterra transformed into a sea of red. That time of year, an abundance of tourists and locals spread out into the streets of Volterra and every single person wore a red cloak. In the case of a tourist, they could purchase one from the souvenir shop much to the shop keeper's glee of a huge profit that month or, in the case of Italian families, the cloaks had been passed down from generation to generation. Some families even claimed to be wearing the cloaks from the first St Marcus day celebrations centuries ago.

Once a year, the legend was told again about how Volterra's savior, Marcus had eradicated the city of vampires and brought peace to the village.

I remember being told that as a little child.

I remember how once a year, my grandma would take out a cigar from a packet that she kept hidden in the very back of the pantry. The packet was frayed at the edges and the vertices where the corners met had small holes on it. The label and long fallen off and the colours on it had faded away so it was nothing but a dull, gray box. Yet, that was when I had last saw it which was when I was 9. Who knows what shape it's now in after 6 years.

_"Grandma, why do you only smoke a cigar once a year?" asked a small 9 year old girl. Her eyes followed her grandmother's every move like an eagle eyeing its prey._

_"Well Antonia, a long time ago when I was probably a few years older than you, **my **grandfather gave me this packet and he told me that one cigar would give me a years worth of good luck and I was told not to be wasteful of the luck and smoke it all in 1 month." replied the aging woman who hand fumbled around the opening of the box._

_"But grandma, it's illegal to smoke that young!" replied the little girl shocked._

_The older woman chuckled lightly. "There was different rules back then little one."_

_There was a long silence before the girl asked a question. "Grandma, what happens when you run out of cigars?" _

_"Well then I guess I run out of luck." replied the grandma._

My grandma had been doing this tradition since long before I was born so it scared me when I saw the dull box in the bin and the last cigar perched on the small table next to the couch where my grandma would usually sit.

"Look." I said quietly.

My grandma peered over her newspaper and looked at me over her spectacles which were sliding down her nose. She raised one eyebrow as to ask me 'what?'

"Last cigar." I finished.

Slowly a grin spread across her face and she began to laugh lightly.

"How very observant of you Antonia." replied my grandma with a small smile.

Then my grandma folded up her newspaper and reached for the last cigar and slowly lit it with the same yellow lighter I had seen her use many times. The transparent plastic around the lighter showed the line where the oil was inside of it and this year, it was almost empty.

"Tell me the story grandma. Tell me the legend again."

Once again, my grandma raised an eyebrow in surprise as she blew out a perfect ringlet of smoke, a skill in which she has perfected over the years of both my visits in the summer and also my sister's before she... left.

"Aren't you a bit old for this Antonia? I mean you are already 15."

"No, I want to hear it again."

"Very well." My grandma paused slightly to take another drag of her cigar. "Centuries ago, Volterra was plagued with dozen's of horrible creatures known as vampires. They hunted down innocent humans at night killed all those that tried to kill them with methods that never worked on the day, the bodies of all the victims grew larger and larger until finally, there was only a few residents left. Then one day, a man by the name of Marcus was walking home late at night after having been in the forest for a very long time."

Another pause to take another drag.

"He only had a piece of wood which was alight with flames as his source of light. The moon itself had disappeared that night. Suddenly as he was about to turn the corner to his house, a vampire smelt his delicious blood and flew down behind him. Frightened, Marcus threw the piece of wood at the vampire and ran as fast as he could, but strangely enough, he could hear screaming. Screaming coming from the vampire itself. Marcus had discovered the invincible creature's weakness. So then, in the daylight of the next day, Marcus built huge tower of wood. Just as the sun was setting for the night and for the vampire's to come out, Marcus made a cut in his arm and dropped tiny droplets of blood around the tower of wood."

My grandma coughed a few times.

"The smell of the blood lured the thirsty vampires into the center of the town to where the tower of wood was and when Marcus thought the vampires where close enough to the wood pile, me quickly started a fire and it soon spread and burnt up all the vicious creatures. However, the day after that, Marcus was never seen again. Some say he was killed in the fire and other say he was slaughtered by all the vampire right after he lit the fire but Volterra will be forever indebted to his sacrifice. Every year we celebrate the sacrifice our savior Marcus gave us by wearing red cloaks to represent the drops of blood he shed for us."

Ever since my first visit to Italy, I got told that story. The first time, it made me cry and have nightmares for weeks of vampires attacking and killing me and I never wanted to hear it again until I was 8. All those other times I was told that story, I just focused on the fact that vampires killed everyone but this time, it was different. Marcus sacrificed his life for his town and for hundreds of people after it without a second thought. Something changed this time.

"Come, Antonia, let us get out into the celebrations." whispered my grandma, breaking me out of my trance.

* * *

The audacity of some people amazes me sometimes.

Why one earth is there a bright yellow Porsche car parked right in the middle of the street?

I slowly followed the crowd along as it made its way to the Clock Tower and we waited for the clock to chime 12 noon. Then we say thank you to Marcus for saving us from the plague of vampires. I never really know what to think of during the minute pause we have to say our thanks. Usually I say a very casual 'Thanks Marcus for saving Volterra' and just stand around watching everyone. My grandma however, was very solemn during that full minute. Her eyes would close in concentration and her hand would be holding her rosary beads. Slowly, the bell which rested at the top of the Clock Tower rang out signalling that one minute was up.

"Lets go have some fun Antonia!" my grandma said mischievously, her eyes betraying the real age she was. She grabbed my hand and slowly led me to a few stalls selling pretty jewelery.

"Tours! Free tours of Volterra castle!" I suddenly heard a voice call out.

It was _her._

_Heidi._

Suddenly, a few dozen tourists with their camera's approached her group.

Her perfect face paused abruptly. She looked as if she was smelling the air for a scent before her eyes opened again and this time, they were focused on mine. She suddenly smiled sweetly before walking from the shadows towards me. Her heels clicked rhythmically against the cobble stone pavement and her black cloak dragging behind her. The group of tourists followed her intently, thinking the tour had suddenly started.

"Hello Antonia," she smiled at me, her purple eyes locking intently on mine. How did she know my name?

"H-hi Heidi," I managed to stutter in shock.

"It's next time." she grin widening showing off her perfectly white teeth. "Think you can come?"

Before I could reply my grandma wrapped an arm around me protectively.

"No thank you Miss Heidi, as you can see we are quite busy perusing the stalls." she cut in.

"Oh thats a shame and I was really hoping you could come Antonia" she pouted again.

"Sorry," my grandma cut in again before turning me around to look at the other stalls.

Suddenly, I felt an ice cold hand grab my shoulder, her nails digging into my skin, almost puncturing my shirt.

"Actually, I think it would be better if you came on this tour." Heidi said through gritted teeth. I slowly turned my head around and I saw her eyes glowing brightly almost and then, something happened.

All I could think of was a desire to see the castle. To see the old brick walls and to admire the historical rooms in it. I wanted to see the castle. However, deep down I knew something was strange

"A-Alright, we'll go," I said almost mechanically. I saw my grandma stare at me incredulously, her eyes widened in shock.

"Great!" Heidi's face turned from frightening to angelic in 1 second. She was smiling brightly again.

I felt her push us into the group of tourists before her voice rang out saying it was time to go.

"Antonia, why did you say yes?" hissed my grandma.

"I don't know, all I could think of suddenly was wanting to see the castle." I replied back.

We then both thought about turning around and walking out but our plan was thwarted when we saw more tourists behind us flashing their camera's.

Slowly, we made out way into a tunnel. This tunnel even I had never seen. It had steps that led downwards. Beside me, I could hear my grandma whispering something in Italian. Her facial expression was on of fear as she gripped her rosary beads tightly. Suddenly, light exploded around me we were finally in a well lit room. It was very spacious and up ahead I could see a secretary sitting at her desk. It was like the reception desk at a huge hotel. I turned to see my grandma. Her eyes had widened as if she had just realized something. She had paled and her hand was touching the bricks of the castle and her other hand was holding onto the rosary beads even tighter.

"Save some for me." A girl whispered.

The owner of the voice walked quickly beside me. She was equally as beautiful as Heidi and she seemed to be around my age. Her blonde hair was tied back smoothly and she wore a cloak very similar to Heidi'a only it was jet black. Behind her trailed a short girl and a man holding another girl. The man was wearing a cloak to, but it was much different to Heidi's and the other girl. The girl whispered something to the man before her eyes widened suddenly. As she walked past me, her brown eyes connected with mine before she whipped her head around to face the man. Her brown tendrils of hair flying out around her.

"Inside this set of doors is one of the most magnificent things of Volterra castle." Yelled Heidi.

The clicks of the camera's went insane then and I craned my neck to see what was so magnificent however the huge person in front of me blocked me from seeing. But I did hear something.

"Welcome friends to Volterra castle!" called a mans voice before a feral snarl broke through inside the room.

It was at that moment when the urge to see the castle disappeared. Something was wrong.

My grandma had smoked the last cigar.

* * *

**Woah, long chapter! Well I hope you guys like it!**


	4. Dio sia con voi

**AN: I am so extremely sorry about the fact that I haven't updated in such a long time! I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive this writer who is exceptionally gifted at procrastinating and putting things off to a later date when she should have done them months ago.**

**Disclaimer: You know the drill...**

* * *

**Antonia**

I have had dreams about going into this Castle.

Walking through the doors and finding a handsome Prince, sitting on a throne waiting for me to become his Princess. That was my dream at age 8.

Discovering hundreds and thousands of chests full of gold and jewels. That was my dream at age 12.

I had never thought that the Castle might be the place of my death. However, as I stand frozen inside the huge ball room of Volterra Castle, I can't but wonder if I'll be able to wake up tomorrow morning. I cautiously tilt my head to the side to catch a glimpse of my grandma, subconsciously hoping that she would smile and banish my fears by pulling me into a hug and telling me that nothing was wrong. The sight before me did not help one bit.

My grandma's eyes were wide with fear and she was physically trembling. She was gripping her rosary beads in her left hand as if they were her source of life and her skin was pale with fear. Slowly, I wound my hand around her shaking one. She visibly jumped at the contact and looked around to see who had grabbed her. I gave her a reassuring squeeze to let her know it was me and not to be afraid. She managed a shaky smile in my direction before grabbing onto my hand in a vice like grip.

The tourists didn't notice a thing as they began to spread out taking photos of the ball room, but we stayed together near the door not moving at all.

I noticed, a man walking around and peering ever so often towards bunches of tourists which had gathered around in different corners of the room. Suddenly his eyes landed on us. His face contorted into a wide grin before he began to walk over towards my grandmother and I.

"Antonia!" he said in an exuberant voice. He gave a small wave towards me.

As if sensing my confusion as to how he knew my name, he continued. "Heidi has told me so much about you!"

So much? What was there to tell? I had rejected her offer of a tour and that was about the end of our correspondence. How could she have told him 'so much'?

"And who is this? Your grandmother?" he asked before reaching out the grab her hand. However, my grandmother quickly slapped his hand away and gasped at where they had come into contact.

As rude as the slap had been, the man didn't seem to mind before focusing his attention back on me.

"How would you like to see a special part of the castle?"

I blinked owlishly up at him. I wanted, so desperately to tell him no, but my throat had closed up refusing me to speak. What I would give to be out of this castle.

His eyes glazed over for a moment before he broke out into another grin.

"Ah, Alec, how would you like to show this little one on a tour of a castle?"

Anything I decided. I would give anything to be out of this castle.

"Of course master," a masculine voice whispered from the shadows. It sounded quite forced as if he would rather stay here. Slowly, I turned my head to see where the voice came from.

It was a boy, around my age I estimated, his skin was so pale as if he had never seen a day of sun in his life. His hair was a rich shade of brown which painfully reminded me of my sister's long, curly locks. But his eyes. They were coal black and showed his true thoughts. They showed bitterness and hatred towards me and he stared down at me as if I was a bug he was going to squash. However, it truly pained me to think that he was, without a doubt... beautiful.

I shut my eyes trying to banish the horrendous thoughts from my head. I could not let my teenage mind distract me from the fact that I wasn't sure if I would even be able to make it out alive. As I opened my eyes, I used all the strength I had left in my body to not jump, scream or show any visible shock and fear as I saw the mans eyes boring into mine curiously. I could tell he was bending over, trying to see me at my eye level. But no matter how hard I tried to seem stoic, my teenage body refused as I felt blood rush to my cheeks at having been standing at such close proximity with a man I didn't even know.

"You are a strange child." he chuckled lightly before wandering off towards the 3 thrones in the room.

"My name is Aro by the way," he called lightly with his back turned to me. "Alec, you may begin the tour."

The boy sucked in a large gulp of air before nudging his head at the direction of the door and beckoning me to follow him. I stared into the eyes of my grandma asking for approval and wondering if I should go or not. She shook her had and grabbed on to my arm tighter, silently telling me to not go. I heard a quiet cough come from the door which made me drag my eyes from my grandma.

If I wasn't in such an intense situation, I would've laughed at the sigh before me. The boy was standing at the door with his arms folded and his foot tapping impatiently on the ground like a cartoon character.

Slowly, my grandma's grip weakened and I could tell how hard she was gripping onto me before, because of the white finger marks she left on my skin which slowly faded away.

"Dio sia con voi, Antonia." she whispered to me.

_God be with you, Antonia._

She made the cross with her fingers before letting go. We looked at each other for a long time and... what I fear may be the last time, before I swivelled around on my feet and walked towards the boy.

_Dio sia con voi. _For my sake, I hope God is.

* * *

Carefully the boy, Alec, I believe his name was, shut the door behind us.

I took this moment to look over him quickly. He was taller than me by a few inches and he was wearing all black as if he was going to a funeral.

He turned his head up and looked at me with those cold eyes before walking forward. Momentarily frozen by his glare, I scampered to catch up to his brisk pace.

"So..." I began as conversationally as I could. "Where are we going."

Alec suddenly stopped walking and I almost bumped into him. He turned around and stared at me menacingly.

He roughly grabbed my arm. My eyes widened at the touch and I gasped loudly. It wasn't the pain that made me gasp, but it was the fact that his skin was ice cold. It felt like a dead person.

_What is he?_

"Run," he said to me, still gripping my arm with his freezing hand.

"W-what?" I stuttered in shock. The words were barely audible.

"Run," he repeated simply. I stared up at him, my eyes wide and confused. He gave a frustrated growl before looking back at me. "We are about to kill everybody in that room, so run. Unless you like hearing screaming."

His words tumbled over me like a waterfall numbing my body head to toe.

_Kill, everybody, screaming._

Shakily I nodded my head and began to walk slowly in a daze, away from the room.

"Run!" Alec yelled from behind me.

I almost tripped over my own feet as began to run. I couldn't hear anything except from the endless patter of my sneakers against the floor. I whipped my head back to see if Alec was standing there but he was gone. Most likely gone back to the room to do...  
Suddenly, I heard a piercing scream break the silence and I knew that they had begun. I hadn't gone far enough.

I pushed my hands against my ears trying to block out the screams which came together to form a sinister chord of sound. Slowly I saw a door and pushed my way through it.

Then I stopped. It was the reception. But the sound was gone. The screams were gone.

Finally, I collapsed into a heap on the ground and began panting as I realized I had been holding my breath since I ran into this room. I let my emotions assault me as I thought of my grandma trapped in there and dead. Finally, I let myself cry, barely noticing the receptionist kneeling down next to me, trying to soothe me.

_Dio sia con voi_

* * *

**Aro**

It is good feeling full.

I let out a sigh of pleasure as I stepped over the bodies that littered the floor. Just then, I saw something small and round near my foot.

A rosary bead.

They were scattered all over the floor, red as the blood that has just been spilled. They came from the grandmother that knew too much. The bead lay on the floor as if it was mocking me. Reminding me of the grandmother and the fact that she still lives on through the beads. Quickly, I pushed the thought away.

"Sheer madness," I whispered quietly to myself, earning a few odd glances from Caius and Marcus.

Suddenly I noticed Alec in the room leaning against the wall of the Castle. The girl?

"Alec," I called out. I noticed him spring up and everyone focused their attention on him. "Where is the girl?"

I heard him scoff a bit before responding. "I told her to run."

Before I could reply, Caius cut through.

"Why would you do that? She could've run away! Foolish child." he said disapprovingly.

I could see Alec's anger flare up enormously by the way he glared at Caius. Although I trust that he would never attack him.

"Demetri." I called out, "Find the girl and bring her back. I would like to ask her some questions."

He nodded curtly at me before rushing out the door. I glanced around the room and took in the sight of dead bodies on the floor, surrounded by pools of blood. A sight that would most surely make the girl feint.

"Heidi, Felix," Another order, "Clean this room up before the girl comes and take the bodies into the garden to be burnt."

Slowly, the bodies started disappearing off the floor as Felix gathered them up and Heidi began to wipe up the blood on the floor.

"Master, are we changing her today?" asked Renata timidly from my side.

"Yes," I replied, "We have no choice."

The girl's fate was now decided. We had to change her. She already knows too much from the suspicions her grandmother has and from what she has seen and felt from her experience in Volterra castle. She has no other option of escape.

Suddenly, the door opened and Demetri walked in carrying the girl over his shoulder before setting her down on the floor and telling her that there was nothing to worry about reassuringly. I held out my palm and beckoned for him to come towards me. Demetri, noticing my outstretched palm, walked towards me and placed his fingers on my skin.

The girl, Antonia, in a heap in the reception, sobbing with Gianna quietly shushing her and rubbing her back. Demetri then walked in and knelt down next to the girl telling her that she was needed back in the room. She refused to move and Demetri let out an exasperated sigh and hoisted her over his back. She began to cry out in protest and started to kick but eventually she accepted her fate and stopped.

It was enough, I let go.

Antonia was quietly sobbing in front of me but I could see that she was trying to regain her composure. She was wobbling ever so slightly and looked as if she was about to collapse onto the floor at any second. Slowly, she stopped staring at the floor and looked up at me in fear.

"A-are you going to k-kill me?" she asked quietly.

"No child, I am not." I responded, although I knew I was lying, but only partially.

She seemed to regain some confidence at that thought and she stood up a bit straighter.

"Please let me go! I promise I won't tell anyone a-about this." Her eyes looked up at mine hopefully.

"No, I'm sorry, I cannot." I responded. Slowly, the hopeful look on her face melted and she began sobbing again. "Hush child." I told her soothingly.

I opened my arms invitingly as a hug and I knew she would not accept it, but her body gave way and she collapsed into my arms crying. At the sudden contact, her thoughts came rushing into my head.

"You have no family left," I thought out loud.

I heard her thoughts and her despair as she was informed that her family had died in a car crash. She used to go to Italy every Summer to visit her Grandmother but this time, she had moved here to live with her.

This was good. She had no family that needed informing about her "sudden death". There wouldn't be any family to come and mourn for their loss and there would be no news story about how a young girl mysteriously disappeared in Italy. No strings attached.

It was then that I realized that I had to change her now.

Slowly, I rested my chin against the crook of her neck and held her tightly. I was savoring the moment as I let the venom pool in my mouth. Then I bit into her flesh releasing the poison into her.

I felt her tense against mine before a piercing scream broke the silence. She sprang from me immediately and clutched her neck in pain.

"What did you do to me?" she shouted out hysterically. I knew she couldn't last much longer until the heat became overwhelming.

"I'm sorry Antonia," I replied, however it was hidden behind her cries as her body fell against the floor, writhing in pain as the venom burnt her inside out.

"Alec," I called, "subdue her."

Then her screams died down and her body relaxed. Her still form lay sprawled across the marble tiling.

"Take her to one of the rooms and when she is complete, inform me immediately."

Alec nodded and picked her up and ran through the door. The guards quickly followed behind him.

Wearily, I slumped into my throne. Right now, I was as close to tired as a vampire could be. Suddenly, I noticed a small red bead on the floor. I picked it up and gently allowed it to rest in my palm.

_Dio sia con voi_

* * *

**I hope this extra long chapter makes up for my absence. Now, I will try to update regularly because I'm on holidays now, but unfortunetly, no promises. **

**Dio sia con voi - God be with you. **

**I got that Italian phrase from Google translate, so apologies if it is wrong.**

**Anyway, please review and tell me what you think!**


End file.
